December 2017 - Wrap It Like You Care

I love downtown this time of year - with the Christmas decorations and trees wrapped in lights.

Recently, I found myself watching a young man wrapping lights around the first of many trees in a row outside of a local business. He looked very bored. He was wrapping the lights half-heartedly and they weren't turning out very nice. Further down the row, I noticed another man wrapping a tree perfectly and with such attention to detail.

The man approached the one who was having trouble. The young man asked (with very little enthusiasm, I might add), “So how do you do this?”

The older man’s response made me stop and pay attention. He said, “Wrap it like you care.”

Wow. Five simple yet powerful words.

As he walked away, I watched the young man smile to himself. That reminder seemed to spark a fire inside him, and he started wrapping the tree with a new level of enthusiasm.

This made me think, regardless of what we are doing or who we are with, do we care?

This Christmas, what if you think about how much your family and friends mean to you and wrap their gifts like you care? What if you come through the front door and say, “Hello, how are you?” like you care? What if you start a conversation with them at the table and listen like you care?

Caring more means we make the world a little bit brighter and, especially at this time of the year, all of us can use a little more light in our lives.